Improvement in projectiles for ordnance



B ;B; HOTCHKISS,

j ctile.

Patented July 27, 1869.

W ITI Q 3 s t m w? 1 1mm To all whom it may concern;

B. B. HOTC-HKISS. OF NEW YORIQ-N. Y.

Letters Patent No. 93,089, dated July 27, 1869; (mtedatcd July 20, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN PR O J'EClTILES FOR ORDNANCE.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

Be it known that I, B. B. HOTCHKISS, of the city and county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Projectiles for Rifle GannQn; and I do hereby declare that the following'is a full and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to the form of the cast-iron part, or hard body, and to the form of the brass or soft packing-material, and to the relations of these parts to each other, and to the rifle-grooves in the gun.

It is an improvement based on the expanding-button projectile, described in an application for patent, filed by me, on or about May 28, 1868.

I will first describe what I consider the best means for carrying out-my'invention, and will afterward designatethe points which I believe to be new therein.

' The accompan yin gdrawings form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a side view of my projectile before being fired.

Figure 2 is a rear view of the same.

Figure 3 is a central longitudinal section, and Figure 4 is a cross-section on the line S S, in figs. 1 and 3.

.Figure 5 is a corresponding longitudinal section, showing the relation of the parts after the projectile has been fired, and

Figure (5 is a corresponding cross-section.

In order to show, as closely as possible, the points of difference between this and my former projectile, I

have also presented two figures, showing the projectile in the two conditions, cut on a different plane, as follows:

Figure 3 represents a longitudinal section on the line T T, before the firing, and

Figure 5* representsa longitudinal section on "the line T T, after the firing. Neither the projectile described in my former application, nor any other expanding-button projectile known to me, has had grooves on the body for the buttons,- allowing the buttons to move forward therein.

' I provide such, making them todecrease in depth forward, and I support the buttons directly, on each side, up to the full cylindrical surface of the projectile.

'There are additional features of the invention, and

additional figures, which will be fully described below.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

A is the body of the projectile;

A is a central projection, formed on the rear, to aid in retaining the packing-piece; and

a a a are wedge-shaped cavities, or inclined grooves, formed in the periphery of the body A, near the rear.

The form of these grooves, and of that portion of the brass which fits therein, is very important. The depth of the grooves decreases gradually from the rear forward. The width is correspondingly contracted, but to a less extent.- I v The number of these wedge-shaped grooves should correspond with the number of grooves in the gun for which the projectile is adapted.

The packing-piece B B B is cast separately in the form represented, and is sufliciently soft to be changed, as represented in figs. {hand 5, in the act of being discharged from the gun.

There is'an annular cavity, I), under the rear part'B of the packing-piece.

The act of firing drives the packing-piece B forward, and tends to increase its radial dimensions, by flattening it against the rear of the body A, but this tendency is of little value I attach importance mainly to its functions in relation to other parts.

The parts B" B, which I term expanding-buttons, may be cast with the part B, and form a portion of a single casting. They are arranged around the rim of the part B, and correspond in number and in form with the wedge-shaped grooves a, in the body A, but are a little narrower.

Theyare adapted to fit in these grooves a, as represented, standing in the rear portions of said grooves when the projectile is placed in the gun, with liberty to move forward, and to be thereby wedged outward when the gun is fired.

The width of e'aph button, B, should be'no greater than the width of the wedge-shaped grooves a, in which they'are to move forward, so that they may be driven forward easily, and be extended thereby.

These parts Bare so made as to project out beyond the cylindrical surface of the body A, like what are known as buttons, or boutons on the well-known French projectiles, but they should not, before using, project out so far as to bear hard on the bottom of the several grooves in the gun.

The intense force produced by the ignition of the powder, in the act of firing, drives forward the buttons B, in the grooves a, and expands them radially, so as to cause them to bear firmly on the bottoms of their respective grooves in the gun.

In giving the rifle-motion to the projectile, the several expanding-buttons B are pressed to one side, in their respective grooves (6. Each is supported and enabled to resist wringing, by its direct and fair contact against the side of its groove a. In other words, the cylindrical portions of the cast-iron, marked a, which stand between the several grooves a, offer a support, direct and firm, to resist any movement of the buttons B, after they have each moved to one side suflicientl y to press against oneside of their respective grooves. i

The slight taper given to the width of the buttons B corresponds'with the twist of the grooves in the gun in which the projectile is intended to be used.

f ferred,

'French bautons, if such are used.

I Guns are sometimes made with a right-hand twist,

. and sometimes withaleft-hand twist. By inclining both edges of each part or' buttons, B I adapt my projectile equally well for each style of groove, presenting a surface just sulfici'ently inclined to bear fairly against the side of each of groove. 1 have adaptedthe projectile here represented for a twist of once in elevenfeet.

Wlien fired from a gun rifled withthe right-hand twist, the'buttons B are pressed each to one side of their respective grooves a, and when fired from a gun rifled with a left-hand twist, the buttons are pressed against the other side of their respective grooves. In either case, they are directly and firmly supported.

' My casting A may be-extended backward between the grooves a, if preferred, and additional buttons, made either expansible or non-expansiblamay be produced on the body A of the projectile, ormaybe fixed form, wherever allowedunder such circumstances.

The cavity a allolws portions of the brass to be received therein, and thus to aid'in locking itself upon the body A. 7

Figures 7 and 8 are sections, showing this part of the projectile on a larger scale, fig. 7 showing the relation of the parts before the firing, and fig. 8 showing the same after the firing.

By making the cavity a in the form of a deep groove, extending quite around the body'A; as represented, I

facilitateits production by aid of a lathe,-and'aiso provide for the locking of the brass, by extension laterally on each side of the wedge-shaped grooves a, as well as its bending or gushing inward.

The length of thepa'rts B may vary. They may be short, as indicated in. fig. 1, so as to not reach the cross-groove a. until after the ffiring has driven them forward,or they may be longer, and extend forward further, as indicated in the other-figures.

I preferthe latter construction; that is,'to make the points of the wedges reach forward into the crossgroove a" before thejfiring, and to be doubled 'up and upset there very greatly by the act of firing.

In such construction, lproposefto bend the points of the parts B"inward, by'hand or by machinery, thus cause themlto lock slightly in the grooie a, when the projectile is made.

It will be observed that allof the features of the inveution to which attention has been particularly called until now, can becarried out by the use of pieces B B, cast and-attached each separately from the others. I greatly'prefer, however, to attach all the parts B together, or, in other words, form them all inn single casting, as shown'in fig. 2, and to secure the-whoie,*by

riveting, at a single'point, in the centre of the rear of i the projectile; I

I donot claim any of the several features, except in expanding-button projectiles; that, is to say, in combination withmeans for expanding the packing in and adjacent to the rifle-grooves, and allowing windage be tween the projectile and the lands of the gun, as specified; but, U

Having now fully described my invention,

Y What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let'- ters Patent, is as.-;follows: I

1.. So constructing the expanding-buttons B, and somounting them in. the wedge-shaped cavities b, supported by the ridges a, as represented, that the but-.

tons shall expand strongly, but slightly, by moving forward to a definitely-limited extent in the act of firing, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

2. I claim the cavity 1), under the packing at the rear,

in combination with the wedging-grooves a, full cylinindrical surfaces a and buttons B, adapted to move forward, and be expanded by such "motion, all as and for the purposes herein set forth.

3-. I claim the'provi'sionu', in combination with grooves a and expanding-buttons B, for receivingaud tiocking portions of the said buttons B as herein speci- 4. I claim a projectile, having a packing formed in a single piece, and having the following several qualities in combination: first, an expanding-plate, or disk,

B, adapted to receive the force of the discharge over the whole rear of the projectile second, a central looking, or fastening thereof; and, third, thesegmental wedges, or buttons B, directly supported against wringing by the projections a, on the exterior of the body A, all constructed, coinbiued, and arranged as and forthe purposes herein set forth.

In testimony whereof, Ihave hereunto set my name, in presence of two subscribing witnesses.-

B. B. HOTGHKISS. Witnesses:

\V. O. DEY, .0. O. Lrvmcs. 

